There were discharged during the year 1680 cases, leaving in the Hospital on the 24th of April, 1858, 142 cases.

Average number of patients in the house during the year 162. Average time each patient was under treatment 32.38 days.

Of the patients discharged from the Hospital:The proportion cured has been.

removed without material im

provement

discharged for misconduct and

eloped.

แ

died.

The greatest mortality among the surgical cases was in fractures of the lower extremities, in which out of 31 cases, 11 died, nearly one-fifth of the whole mortality.

Among the medical cases the greatest mortality was from phthisis, viz., 16 out of 66 cases; the next greatest was from disease of the heart, 11 out of 28 cases. About one-third of the whole

mortality was from these two causes.

In the insane department there were treated during the year 359 cases. There were admitted during the year 116 cases, discharged 124 cases. Remaining April 24th, 1858, 235 cases. Average number of patients resident in the Hospital during the year 237.

Of those discharged there were

2. Proceedings of the Sixty-sixth Annual Convention of the Connecticut Medical Society, May, 1858. From the Secretary, Dr. P. M. Hastings.

3. Transactions of the Tennessee State Medical Society, 1857-8.

EDITORIAL.

GRATUITOUS MEDICAL SERVICES TO CLERGYMEN.

It is surely not necessary for us to occupy space in demonstrating the fact that our profession does a large, a very large amount of unrequited labor, and that too very often where it has a right to expect full remuneration. We do not propose at this time to discuss this question fully in all its aspects, but will, for the present, leave that to our correspondents.

There is one class of men to whom, by common consent, the medical profession has hitherto, almost universally, rendered their services free of cost, and they have, in times past, done it cheer. fully-viz., to ministers of the gospel and their families. But a great change is evidently rapidly taking place on this subject in the minds of many of the profession. Several reasons occur to us why this is so. Fees are now at a minimum, while living is at a maximum rate. The expenses of living are much greater now than when custom established the present nominal rates of fees. Finding, therefore, that his income is insufficient to meet his expenses, the physician is induced to abrogate a rule which many of them think has its foundation in custom rather than in justice. Again, many of our clergy, particularly in large cities, receive high and remunerative salaries, and there certainly is no reason why they should not pay reasonable bills. The physician is liable for pew-rent, for his full share of the minister's salary, and other church expenses, and is always regarded as just the man to appeal to for any benevolent object. As there are no exceptions in his favor, why should he make an exception in favor of the minister? But there is another, and perhaps a more potent, reason. Take the clergy as a class, and it is charged that they are forward, oftentimes meddlingly so, in the recommendation and encouragement of the various forms of quackery, thus often interfering with the office of the physician; and that they have thus placed themselves beyond the right to claim or expect any favors at the hands of the physician. One more reason is urged. VOL. XI.-NO. 8. 38

Clergymen have become so accustomed to receiving these favors that many of them seem to regard them as a conceded and undeniable right, and often fail to make even a suitable verbal acknowledgment for the gratuitous services rendered them.

While we readily admit the force of much of this reasoning, we are not prepared to fully commend to general adoption the resolution recently passed by the District Medical Society for the County of Camden, N. J., by which its members resolve to charge clergymen for medical attendance. Indeed, we think it unadvisable to have any fixed rule on the subject. The labors of a very large proportion of the clergy are eminently "labors of love," and very few of them, as a class, receive remunerative salaries; and to such, gratuitous medical attendance is, in our view, due for their Master's sake--and not, by the way, for any supposed influence that they may exert in favor of the physician. While, therefore, we should not hesitate to charge wealthy clergymen, or those receiving remunerative salaries, we should be very sorry to be the recipient of a fee from the scanty means of the impoverished curés of the larger proportion of our parishes.'

DULL TIMES.

Did the medical profession ever encounter such dull times? Certainly not for many years, if we can judge by what veteran practitioners tell us. Very little sickness for several years past, small bills in consequence, and "low funds" to collect them from. Such is almost the universal complaint.

Well, how does all this affect us-"we"-the editor? Why, we are within the reach of the general complaint, besides being affected secondarily by the universally tardy payment of subscriptions. These "times" have killed several medical journals outright, besides discouraging the starting of several new ones which had been announced. Nor is this all-and here, by the way, is the pith of this article-they interfere sadly with our obtaining mate

1 Preachers' Salaries.-Of the whole number of preachers of the Pittsburg (Pa.) Conference, twenty-nine got over $500, forty-two got between $400 and $500, forty-five got between $300 and $400, twenty four got between $200 and $300, and thirty got less than $200. The total amount paid to one hundred and seventy preachers was $62,542 66, including house-rent and travelling expenses, which would average $367 90 for each preacher.

rial for filling our journal. We never found our exchanges so dull and heavy as they are now. They contain, and we can obtain, but few original articles; the material from which to prepare abstracts is scarce; our city societies are in a state of estivation; while our "own" correspondents have exhausted their wits in trying to make something out of nothing. There is one universal cry, "There's nothing to write about." Well, friend, now is the time to get down your "case-book," brush the dust from it, and look up that "case" you promised us long ago; now is the time for you to discuss that point you agreed to when we last saw you.

But we fear our appeals have come rather late in the day; we feel that we have almost weathered the storm. The debilitating heat of mid summer will soon have passed away; the machinery in our cities will be in motion again in a short time; and we have in view a plentiful supply of medical society, hospital, and other clinical reports, etc. etc., with which ere long to freight our journal.

We have observed that whenever time hangs heavy on the hands of the physician, when his pocket memorandum-book exhibits a beggarly account of blank lines, when his visits are few, and fees at a low ebb, then he resigns himself to ease and repose; then is not the time that he chooses to use the pen. But let business revive, let his blank pages be dotted with the memoranda of visits made, and then his fingers become supple, his ideas flow freely from the nib of his pen, and we are constrained to "beg the indulgence of our correspondents" till we can make room for their communications. Friend, if you have an article in the skeleton for us, now is just the time to finish it, as business is reviving wonderfully.

CORRECTION.-We have received a letter from Dr. Waring, calling our attention to an accidental error in our review of Geddings' Surgery. The particular portions commented upon were not from Dr. Geddings, but were written by Dr. Waring, with his initials appended.

DR. CORSON v. DR. FITHIAN.

In the REPORTER for June, we published an article on Scarlatina. The writer of the article, Dr. Fithian, of Woodbury, New

Jersey, took occasion to comment on some expressions in the report of the Standing Committee of the Medical Society of New Jersey, which was published in our March number. These expressions relate to the treatment of scarlet fever, and are to be found on page 220 in that number. Dr. Corson, of Trenton, a member of the late Standing Committee, thinking that Dr. Fithian's comments were harsh, sent us a reply to Dr. F.'s criticism; but not liking the spirit of the reply, and thinking that some of the expressions it contained were uncalled for, as we failed to see wherein Dr. Fithian had transgressed the bounds of legitimate criticism, we declined publishing the article unless its author would submit to some emendations which we proposed. This he is not willing to do to the extent which we feel it our duty to insist upon, before giving publicity to the article. In this, Dr. Corson thinks we do him injustice. We are sorry to have to differ with him on this point, and we claim that in suppressing the article as sent to us, we rather did an act of kindness to our friend.

In our correspondence with Dr. Corson, we took occasion to say that we were confident that Dr. Fithian had no intention of being personal, and entertained no unkind feelings towards either of the members of the late Standing Committee; and we are glad to have it in our power to say that our remark is borne out by Dr. Fithian himself, who is surprised and grieved to find that his remarks have given offence; and he desires us to say that his article was in no sense meant to be personal; that, in fact, he had reference in his strictures rather to the Society for giving publicity to such doctrines, than to the authors of the report, whose right to embody their own opinions in a report he has no disposition to question. The members of the Committee are, personally, entire strangers to him, though he expresses the hope that it will be his privilege to meet with them, and show them that he entertains no ill-will towards them.

We comply with Dr. Corson's request to publish the following note, and trust that further reflection will convince him that our course has been a proper one; and we certainly need not assure him that our course has not been taken out of any unfriendly feeling towards him, but from a sense of duty to all concerned: